Netflixing: The New Friday Night Party

I am sure you have heard some of your friends say, “I think I failed my final exam, I really have to stop netflixing,” or “sorry I forgot about your birthday, I was netflixing.” Netflixing is a term that describes the way people will watch an entire season of a show in one day. Netflix now gives you 15 seconds between television episodes to decide if you are going to do anything productive with your life today… and chances are you aren’t.

Over the past year, Netflix has dished out some very high-quality original series such as House of Cards, the fourth season of Arrested Development, and my personal favorite, Orange is the New Black. They release the entire 13-episode season in one day, tempting viewers to binge watch. After spending the entire day in a dark room, huddled around your laptop, you are left with a feeling of satisfaction and dread. Now Netflix has you hooked on this amazing show but is making you wait an entire year before the next season! So what are you left to do? Watch the entire season ten more times of course!

Not only does Netflix offer original series but they also have multiple seasons from your favorite shows such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Glee! Sure, you have seen every episode multiple times, but that isn’t going to stop you from re-watching them! Netflix is the prime location for you to catch up on the latest and greatest hit shows all your friends have been talking about. With the Netflix mobile app you can literally watch shows on Netflix wherever you go. If that’s not a recipe for binge watching, I don’t know what is.

I have personally fallen victim to the allure of netflixing. I watched every season of Breaking Bad in just a few weeks in preparation for the huge series finale that took place on September 29th. Orange is the New Black? Watched that in two days all while preparing for a midterm. The problem is all of our friends are watching these shows too, and we don’t want to be left out or behind by an episode. So instead, we decide to completely put off reality and transfix ourselves in these fantasy worlds for days on end. I know I have blown off plenty of plans just so I could catch up on my Netflix queue.

As you finish watching an episode on Netflix you finally think you are going to do something worth while with your day, a window pops up stating “next episode will play in 15 seconds” and it is so easy to just give in and get lost in the world of make-believe.

Our obsession with Netflix has gotten to the point where there are now t-shirts with sayings on them such as:

And my personal favorite:

So while you are waiting out that torturous year for your show of choice to release season 2 on Netflix, you can buy a shirt sporting a quirky saying or you can always turn to fanfiction and read up on some fantasy on your OTP.